City report
training centre’s heated pitch,” says Lucia
Blaskova, Manager of the
AcquaCity-based enjoyTatras.com DMC.
Just 20 minutes’ drive from AquaCity
Poprad, the national park High Tatras
Mountains is within reach, offering some
600km of marked hiking trails. Within
this setting the Grand Kempinski Resort
continues to provide a dramatic
environment, especially for automotive
brands, such as Volvo which partners the
hotel, looking to test drive models on
winding and peaceful mountain roads,
with luxury meeting and bedroom
facilities to welcome delegates.
AquaCity and High Tatras can
provide a concentrated base for sports
teams, and will do for many when the
IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships
descend on Košice in May 2019.
Steel Arena
The Ice Hockey World Championships
are expected to attract 250,000 fans in
May. Košice’s largest venue, The Steel
Arena, will host this holy grail sporting
event for an ice hockey mad nation.
Sport has always been part of the city
fabric. Andrea Porkorwa, Project
Manager for Progress Promotion Košice,
a leading local event management
company, says: “We have been excited to
assist many partners in the build-up to
the championships, which is adding to an
increasing demand from commercial
companies to hold events in Košice.”
Progress Promotions organised the
annual Košice Peace Marathon (the
second oldest marathon in the world), the
Pro-Educo International Education Fair,
which has grown year-on-year, adding
30 exhibitors since 2017, instigating a
move to the Steel Arena.
Porkorwa’s optimism for Košice’s
future expansion as a top MICE
destination comes with a caveat: “The
piece of the puzzle that is missing is a
dedicated congress centre which would
attract the biggest and best events to
Košice and region.”
The Steel Arena can seat over 8,000
guests, rising to 12,000 for concerts, and
it will open an onsite hotel in time for the
Ice Hockey World Championships.
“Another challenge is to meet growing
MICE demand, by increasing the hotel
capacity for larger events. Currently,
Hotel Yasmin, Centrum and Double
Tree by Hilton are the main meeting
hotels in Košice,” Porkorwa adds.
Invisibility & Creativity
The Invisible Hotel concept is “just a
small, but important part of the cultural
output” for Creative Industry Košice
(CIKE), a non-profit making
organisation that evolved from
ECC2013, according to CIKE’s Director
Michal Hladký. The hotel concept fuses
tourism with art, by offering guests
insightful stories of the city, people and
crafts.
The Invisible Hotel’s five individual
rooms are designed by local artists and
are spread across city-centre hotels. Each
room celebrates a unique historical event
e.g. ‘Room Golden Treasure’, which
depicts, through modern design, the
hoard of 2,910 gold coins found during
city renovations in 1935, currently
displayed at the East Slovak Museum.
Guests also receive a welcome pack
offering a curated selection of craft
products and free tickets to cultural
Above: The High
Tatra mountains,
so long a hidden
European jewel, now
open for organisers
Below: Marathon
time in Kosice and
the Kunsthalle
ISSUE 100
institutions such as the retro Kino
Usmev cinema.
CIKE recently organised an
important ‘Art & Tech Conference’ in
Košice and used one of the city’s most
iconic cultural venues Taba ka
KulturFabric as part of their programme.
This multifunctional building best
encapsulates Košice’s cultural economy
and alternative urban scene. Taba ka is
described as a ‘social innovator’, holding
on average 1,000 events annually,
across 2,500sqm of varying spaces and
fostering new young talent across the
creative arts and media spectrum.
Taba ka plays a big part in developing
culture and creativity as a ‘soft power’ in
Košice.
ECC2013’s knock-on effect, is still
being felt, not just within this city’s
MICE sector, whose portfolio of unique
venues is firmly on the radar of planners,
but also reverberating out towards
nature and the UNESCO filled regions.
Košice’s accolades and event
‘wins’ keep coming, this year it is the
European Capital of Volunteering
and next, hosting the 2020 World
Master Orienteering Championships,
which will help plot another active
course for this captivating Slovak
destination.
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